#and don’t get me wrong i love camp jupiter so so much and i’m mad we didn’t see more of it!

[my-fall-from-grace]

ok i know we all find out about camp jupiter later on and i know the books (son of neptune and mark of athena specifically) discuss this a little bit, but i can’t get over how unfair the greek camp is compared to the roman camp. it’s all i can think of when watching the show and thinking back to the original pjo series

the romans can grow old! they have legacies! they have a university, coffee shops, homes, a whole city to live in and fall in love and raise children and grow old!

on the other hand, camp half blood is for children. it’s a summer camp! some campers go home for the school year and just never come back because they have to choose between being “normal” and being safe - while the romans have schools. they have a life after their time in the legion! while greek demigods EXPECT to die young. you so very rarely seen anyone older than 22 that it’s even remarked upon in the books! and when you grow up and you want to live a life that is not in a summer camp, your only option is to join the human world and fear monster attacks. the romans have a city, a place you can live safely. the chances of a greek demigod living a long life are so minuscule, bc to be strong enough to defend yourself outside of camp and life that long, you need to be powerful and that immediately means you attract more monsters. the greek demigods were doomed from the start (it’s the narrative).

and yes ok i know that romans are child soldiers and pay for these “luxuries” through all their years of service - plus the gods are more involved with the greek demigods for sure - but i still find it so heartbreaking for the greek demigods. as i’m watching the show and i’m older and no longer the same age as these children, i’m just horrified by all these details i thought were cool. a summer camp is fun but you can’t live forever there, you’ll have to leave at some point in an effort to have a life and that’s most likely going to be what kills you. i feel like if the greeks knew of the romans earlier, then luke would have had so much more demigods joining his cause - and understandably so!

i wish there would have been more discussion of how ANGRY the greek demigods were that they had to live like that while the romans could grow old. i know they must have been tired at that point, even of being angry at the gods for yet another thing in the endless list, but i would have wanted to see more of that realisation. “they don’t really care about us.”

[crushing-on-nico-di-angelo]

This is kind of a random question but...

Do you know why people hate Rick Riordan?

I just have no information, and I’ve seen a lot of stuff lately talking about how he’s problematic.

hi!! yes, I've seen things about this as well. I can list the reasons I've seen. I don't agree with all the points made, but its just what I've seen and I think it may answer your question. I also recommend going through the tag #rr crit, as it will give you a lot more and detailed information regarding him (beware: there are quite a few buzzwords. I recommend taking the facts and forming your own conclusions). I also think it's important to note that many people don't hate him, but they acknowledge that since he's a cishet white man there's things he didn't handle well and he needs to listen to critisicm.

Completely mishandled Piper's native American heritage. From the feather in her hair, to her dad being from a reservation that doesn't exist in Oklahoma, to having kaleidoscope eyes (some say that it suggests brown eyes aren't beautiful enough for aphrodite, more on this in the next bullet), to being a kleptomaniac, her character is, ignorantly or purposefully, chock full of stereotypes. having a cornucopia being her weapon. when Rick was told that this isn't good he became defensive and didn't listen to any critisicm

not giving female characters chances to be young, or not have a boyfriend or be unconventionally attractive. if they do get to not have a boyfriend, they're thrown into the Hunters of Artemis. their eyes are anything but brown (I do disagree with the eye thing but it's important to note), suggesting that having brown eyes should be considered less than. Sadie got a 1000 year old boyfriend when she was 14. 13 year old Hazel had a 16 year old boyfriend-- that could be a seventh grader and a junior or a freshman and sophomore depending on how you look at it (and I LOVE frazel, don't get me wrong. the age gap is just,,). in fact, the only female non-hunter without a significant other I can name is Meg, and she's 12.

Sadie Kane and the fanart he boosts of her. he frequently shows her looking completely white, despite saying she "stood out in class for being mixed." It honestly wouldn't surprise me if a white girl were cast to play her in the Netflix movies.

treatment of characters with invisible disabilities. this can range from the coment of "You anemic loser" targeted at Octavian (as someone with an iron deficiency, I don't see anything wrong with it, but cmon. kids can see that, rick. you can't control anemia) to Clovis' chronic fatigue being treated as a joke. invisible disabilities are hard and just as painful as physical ones. it doesn't help if you treat them like that.

too much misogyny to list all of it, but we can start with young girls being expected to be, and acting, more mature than they are; the strong female characters portraying the "I'm not like other girls" trope; the entire way Hera was treated.

The way Nico's outing was handled (this is one I especially disagree with, and this post said it best, thanks ghost). A violent outing by the God of love taking place before Nico was ready, according to some, was not what younger gay people needed to see. he should have had a loving environment and, at the very least, it should have been from his own point of view and not Jason's.

anti-acne and fat phobia: Apollo having a deep hatred towards his acne and Frank's glow up including severe weight loss (not being a cuddly teddybear anymore, getting taller) isn't the best thing for kids who have acne or are fat to see.

Samirah al-Abbas: "reversing the stereotype (Rick's words)" of an arranged marriage by having her be in love with a distant cousin is... not reversing the stereotype at all actually. it just falls into it. Having her take off her hijab around floor 19 because they feel like family is also not great, because, to my understanding as a non-hijabi and non-muslim, that is not how being hijabi works. similar to the piper situation, when Rick was told that this isn't good he became defensive and didn't listen to any critisicm

ANTISEMITISM, ANTISEMETISM, ANTISEMITISM. this is one of the ones I agree with the most. Having Hades' children be Nazis, having a plot point revolve around one of the most traumatic events in world history, ignoring the fact of generational trauma and ignoring the fact that It Didn't Matter That It Took Place In World War Three, it could have not had any correlation to the death of over six million Jewish people. it legitimizes evilsurrounding Hades and death, and -- well, this one makes me so mad, I can't explain all of it so here is a post explaining more in depth

Slavery issues: similar to the holocaust, Rick Riordan made one of the most terrible issues in American History into a fight between demigods. this lowers the legitimacy of the issue, makes it seem fictional, makes Camp Jupiter seem terrible and awful, except it doesn't. because camp Jupiter isn't terrible. but the confederacy was. if children, especially white children, learn about the confederacy through camp Jupiter, it makes it seem way less bad than it was.

again, I don't agree with all of this, it's just reasoning as to why. in my eyes, Rick Riordan is a man who has grown in his telling of his stories. he started with a canonical all white, all straight, all cis cast. he has now a series featuring a latino genderfluid queer person. This Post said it better than I ever could.

I know that it's impact over intent in so many situations. and this isn't to say I disagree with all, or even most of his critisim. I just think that he has good intent, and I hate him for absolutely none of it.

I am gay, I am Latino, and I am trans. that is all I can speak on, and I think his rep for that was great. I hope this answered your question, dear anon. again, I encourage you to do your own research and form your own opinions. I only touched on a few issues that Rick has had and there's a lot more to be talked about. I would say to keep in mind his intent and his growth. thank you for the ask, thank you for directing it to me that made me feel happy lol. ily I hope you have a good day

if anyone else has anything to add, by all means please do!!

[skaterbeth]

the seven + others playing among us

because i fucking love this game 

annabeth 

so good. like. too fucking good 

prefers the imposter role because she is amazing at sabotaging and killing without getting seen 

a master at travelling the vents unnoticed 

very good at making sure she doesn’t form a pattern in who she kills 

only self reports when she knows she won’t be suspicious 

changes her behavior in real life to be less suspicious in game 

percy always gets so offended when she kills him out of convenience 

(“i can’t believe you killed me!” “you were literally in a room alone doing your task it was too easy”) 

memorized every task so she always has an alibi 

when she’s a crewmate she just finishes her tasks and always saves the crew when they imposter sabotages the reactor or something 

is always able to figure out who the imposter because she memorized everyone’s tells like the little shit she is (and percy can’t even lie to her anymore like he’s the worst liar)

wears white 

percy 

is kinda good at being the imposter but definitely kills certain people on purpose 

those people: jason (duh, he liked to piss him off), piper (cause he thinks it’s funny when she’s mad), reyna (bc he considers that a fucking accomplishment he would totally go around camp jupiter telling everyone he killed the praetor), and leo (no explanation needed) 

refuses to kill: annabeth (bc he’s a simp), hazel (bc he loves her too much), grover (🐐) 

people he’s indifferent to killing: frank and nico (but he still feels kinda bad bc my boy is too sweet) 

when he’s the imposter he’s so bad at defending himself 

and annabeth can read him super easily 

so when she accuses him he’s just like “yeah just vote me out lolz” 

when he’s a crewmate he kinda just does his tasks idk 

but he never saves the crew when their being sabotaged cause he doesn’t like that pressure 

always reports the body and immediately goes on the chat like “guys who killed my girlfriend 😡” 

always blames it on jason cause he likes seeing him get mad 

and when it’s not jason percy’s like 🤷🏾

wears blue 

leo 

he’s the most chaotic to play with adskjskdjk 

like 

he’s such a good imposter but he also accidentally brags when he kills someone 

“so who do you guy think it is?” “idk but whoever it was is a really good imposter” “... ok so it’s leo” 

even if he’s not the imposter people vote him out when he’s being annoying 

loves sabotaging 

always kills frank first cause he thinks it’s hilarious 

next would be annabeth because she’s super smart

but everyone tries to kill annabeth first 

doesn’t kill hazel because he thinks she’s too pure 

also doesn’t kill nico

very good crewmate 

always finishes his tasks first 

and when he’s done he just follows people around to freak them out and make them think he’s the imposter 

wears orange 

piper 

also chaotic 

always kills annabeth first but like makes it a point to do it so everyone always knows it’s her 

in the off chance she doesn’t kill annabeth first she always tries to pin it on her 

has definitely accidentally revealed herself as the imposter multiple times 

definitely charmspeaks people into thinking it’s not her 

and it actually works a fair amount of times 

if someone kills her she gets so annoyed it’s so funny 

cusses so much 

like 

they have to kick her out bEcAuSe hAzEl 

but hazel thinks it’s hilarious 

decent crewmate but she definitely prefers imposter 

wears red 

frank 

hates this game 

like 

cannot stand it 

but he doesn’t want to be left out so he plays it 

he hates being the imposter so much 

he doesn’t like to kill people so he just sabotages 

but he’s not very good at that either 

if he ever does kill he always accidentally does it in front of someone or he gets caught immediately 

when someone accuses him it’s super obvious when he’s lying 

but he’s a very good crewmate 

always does his tasks and helps save the crew when things get sabotaged 

will literally watch the imposter kill someone and when he reports it he accidentally says the wrong color 

(this makes it seem like i hate frank i really don’t this is literally just how i play) 

wears brown 

jason 

he’s literally dead he can’t play 

kidding kidding 

definitely still hasn’t figured out the map 

easiest to kill because he just wanders around aimlessly til he finds a task he was assigned 

is so bad at the admin card swipe he gets kicked out (which has actually happened to my brother) 

every time he gets killed the chat fills up with “was it a brick” or just 🧱

leo and annabeth make an animation of jason’s color getting hit on the head with a brick by reyna’s color 

never saves the crew when they’re sabotaged because he can’t get there fast enough and he doesn’t have the ability to do it fast enough anyway 

he’s like an ok imposter? 

idk like there’s not much to say for jason 

wears purple (because camp jupiter. yes he’s that boring) 

hazel 

y’all 

hazel is 

a fucking RUTHLESS imposter 

and no one ever thinks it’s her 

and she loves it 

being the imposter is definitely her preferred role 

always kills leo first 

never kills jason cause she thinks it’s funny to watch him try to play 

but she rarely sabotages 

she just kills 

if she does sabotage it’s the lights 

because she’s smart

self reports all the time and tries to act traumatized by discovering a dead body so no one suspects her 

she’ll always tell nico when she’s the imposter so they’ll pair up but he’ll always vouch and say it wasn’t her 

she always wins as imposter 

and when it’s revealed it’s her everyone is liked 😧

good crewmate 

gets her tasks done and saves the crew when they’re sabotaged 

wears purple (but bc she likes the color not cause of camp jupiter) 

nico 

pretends to hate this game but secretly loves it 

doesn’t really care about being imposter or a crewmate he just likes to watch how everyone else plays/interacts 

if he is the imposter he’ll never kill hazel 

who he kills (in order): leo (just cause he’s annoying), jason, annabeth, reyna, percy, piper, frank, grover, (never hazel) 

definitely makes random accusation because it’s funny 

he’ll never say it but if annabeth kills him he doesn’t care and roots for her to win bc he loves annabeth 

finds percy and annabeth’s banter super entertaining 

if he’s not the imposter he definitely follows people around and freaks them out for fun (specifically jason, leo, frank) 

good crewmate and always saves everyone’s asses 

will call the emergency meeting to say he watched leo kill someone (which he didn’t) or just to be like “yo im hungry y’all want mcdonalds after this?” (they can’t even be mad and everyone definitely gets mcdonalds after) 

wears black duh 

reyna 

mix of annabeth and hazel 

super good at the game and definitely enjoys the killing 

main difference between her and annabeth is that annabeth is more strategic whereas reyna just kills whenever she feels like it 

that being said 

she does kill jason first 

then percy 

definitely hesitates on killing annabeth because she likes her enjoys watching her try to figure out who it is 

annabeth and reyna have an unspoken agreement that when reyna’s the imposter annabeth won’t say anything as long as reyna doesn’t kill her 

i just love reynabeth ok 

master at traveling the vents 

if she’s a crewmate she follows around grover, frank, leo, and jason for fun 

because she finishes tasks fast obviously 

saves everyone’s asses when they get sabotaged 

will randomly accuse leo when she has no idea who it is in the first round 

(the girls all go along with it) 

originally wears blue but she doesn’t wanna match with percy so she switches to white to match with annababe ❤️

grover 

is so bad at the imposter it’s so funny 

but him and percy always partner up and vouch for each other 

but if percy’s the imposter and grover knows he’s very bad at keeping it a secret 

and annabeth knows those two the best out of anyone so she always figures it out 

sometimes she won’t say anything though because those two are dumbasses but they’re HER dumbasses 

he’s so sweet and doesn’t like to kill 

would rather sabotage 

he’ll definitely lock the doors on people cause it’s funny 

good crewmate 

knows the map really well 

never does the tasks to save the crew when their sabotaged cause it stresses him out 

idk what else to say for him lmao 

wears dark green 

when there’s two imposters 

best most dangerous duo: annabeth and reyna 

deadliest duo: hazel and reyna 

most chaotic duo: leo and piper 

boring but funny duo: jason and frank 

chaotic but cute and funny duo: grover and percy 

funniest duo: percy and annabeth (because their banter on the side and the fact that percy gets distracted by how cool his gf is) 

duo that bickers so nothing gets done: frank and leo 

duo that doesn’t work together: jason and percy 

duo that no one expected to be really good together: nico and annabeth 

stealthiest duo: hazel and nico

duo that would expose each other: leo and percy 

(i’m tagging @tridentgum because i remember you asked for this lmao)

[starlightshadowsworld]

A Wolf's Pack

(Or Jason wants a family so bad he forgot the one he already has.)

@derpy-grackson

@incorrectjercyquotes

@perseusjackson-jasongrace

You know how Annabeth had the whole mission from her mum, go get the Athena Parthenos. A mission that would prove herself to her mum, or at least so she'd hoped.

Imagine if we had this for Jason. He's finally healing, finally opening himself up to the others and bonding with Percy albeit very slowly and it's pretty awkward.

And this boy who has never met his father, but spent his entire life trying to live up to his name. This boy is one day informed not by his father but another deitie about a mission Jupiter has for him.

Imagine Jason putting everything he has into his mission, so much so he's pushing away others. It takes over his life, consumes him because finally he'll have done is father proud.

And everyone's trying to help him but he won't take it. He leaves in the dead of the night and by some miracle there able to find him.

"Jason...you need to stop this." Says Reyna, she's the first to find him and stop him in his tracks. Around them, the rest of the 7, Nico and Thalia surround the clearing. Jason frowns "what are you all doing here... I believe I made it perfectly clear I was going alone."

"Yeah, no you're not. Jason this quest is far too dangerous for you to go on alone." Says Annabeth, getting straight to the point. "It's not as difficult as getting the long lost Athena Parthenos" He replies, she wants to say something but words fail her. Jason's mad that out of everyone he has to explain himself to her when Annabeth should understand.

"Jason, you've planning this thing for months in secret... You've been missing out on training and I can't remember the last time we hung out. If you go out there, you're not going to just look dead on your feet." Said Leo, seriously and worriedly. Jason had been hiding away from them for months, he'd only seen him a handful of times. "I'm sorry Leo but this is more important, my father has given his orders and I will fulfill them."

"We're not saying you shouldn't, ain't no one wanting to deal with your dad when he's mad but Jase you need to rest before you do something as crazy as this. Your his son you attract that many monsters and as great as you are man you can't fight them alone, let us come with you." Said Percy, softly and calmly like rain after a storm.

It was tempting.

But he couldn't.

"No... I must do this alone, and if rather leave now, so get out of my way." Is what Jason said instead, he was antsy and exhausted but he didn't care. He had to do this, had to do it now.

"Jason, breathe" came Piper's soft voice. Jason hadn't realised it but he was shaking. He looked into her bright multicoloured eyes and gave a big heaving breathe. Frank came forward "Jason, I've asked for your council on many occasions but this time I need you to listen to mine... You are not ready for this mission right now, you need to sleep and than assemble a team to join you. I don't want to pull rank on you but..."

Despite the situation, Jason felt pride well up inside of him. But was bought back to the matter at hand and shook his head firmly "I'm sorry Praetor but even you can't disobey the will of the God's. And this quest means far to much for me to be stopped by you..."

"Why tho..."

Jason blinked turning to Thalia who was standing there, frowning with her arms crossed. "Why are you actually breaking yourself apart just to do a quest for dear old dad?"

It was a sentence so simple and innocent but for Jason it filled him with rage. Sparks danced across his body and the air became thicker, the wind whirled around him, seperating him from the rest. "Why?! Because he's my Father! Because he's asking me, his son to complete a quest for him. Because it's the first time I've ever been adressed by him as his son other than my claiming... And when I do this quest...he'll be proud of me. He'll recognise me as his son, and everything will have been worth it."

"What do you mean...?" Asked Piper, not even needing charmspeak at this moment.

"Being taken from my mother, my sister... Being raised by Lupa and dumped into a camp at 3 years old and spending every waking moment being told I'm not good enough to be Jupiter's son... But now, it'll all be worth it...I'll fulfill my purpose. As his s-.. "

"As his soilder" Said Nico, he didn't want to say it but he had too. The path Jason was on was a dangerous one and he'd be dammed if he let him walk it. The rest were reeling, their hearts going out to their friend... So this was what this was all about.

Jason froze, the wind vanishing instantly. "No" He said as Thalia shook her head and walked towards him. "What? Would you rather we said tool?" Jason backed away as she came forward until his back hit a tree. Thalia grabbed his shoulders "Jason... Everything he did to you wasn't out of love. It wasn't out of protection or anything noble, it was to make you a tool. A machine, something he could control and fight for him like any other soilder. This quest seals that, he could've asked any other demigod and it would've been of no difference to him." She said gravely.

It was something all demigods learned, but for Jason to be holding onto this false hope for 16 years... It was cruel.

"No... You're wrong..." And that plea of her little brother looking up at her with his big blue eyes, begging her to tell him otherwise. That all the suffering in his life was because his father loved him... That broke her heart.

The tears came shortly after, sobbing for the life he'd lost and the life he had. Everyone gathered walked towards him and Jason Grace, blonde Superman himself , the friend they'd all fought for and had grown to love and care for.

He cried in the arms of his family, mourning the one he never had and the life time of loneliness he'd endured all for the hope that one day, one day his father would acknowledge him... Would love him.

But when Jason woke up the following morning, he'd never felt more loved in his life.

[athenasspawn]

NON-CANNON

When one has fear, one can and will do stupid stuff, that is the law of emotions. No matter, good or bad, emotions in quantity make us go crazy. Too happy? Crazy, too angry? Crazy, too sad? Crazy, too thrilled? Crazy. Tell me I am wrong, I dare you. 

But I won’t talk about all emotions, no, I will tell you about two of them, two that are so different but so similar at the same time; Fear and Love.  

This is the story, the true story, of what happened just before the seven of the prophecy arrived in Rome, before Annabeth Chase went on her solo quest, before Nico D’Angelo was rescued, before Perseus Jackson and Annabeth fell into Tartarus.  

…

The air on the Argo II, to say the least, was tense, how could it not? They were on a clock and the things that awaited them in Rome weren’t exactly the most delightful ones. 

And they were still teenagers, they had fights and disagreements, sometimes they didn’t get along, sometimes they wish for everything but to see each other’s faces, and sometimes they had lover’s quarrels.  

And this was one of those times. 

“So,” Annabeth said, sitting next to Piper “Are you done ignoring me?” 

Piper said nothing, instead, she took a cookie from the bag of cookies she had in her hand and ate it.

“I guess that is a no”

Piper swallowed, threw the now empty package at Annabeth, and stood up to leave. Before she could walk out of the room, Annabeth grabbed her arm, spinning her around “What is your problem?”

“Are you seriously asking me this?”

“Yes, you have been avoiding me ever since Camp Jupiter, only talking to me in quests” 

“If I could not talk to you during quests I would, but I prefer to stay alive, I’m not stupid”

“What did I do to make you mad?”

“Don’t act like you don’t remember”

Annabeth bit her lip, “I don’t”

Piper scoffed “Fuck you, Chase”

Annabeth couldn’t answer. The ship shook, throwing both of them out of balance. Everything went still for a second before the ship trembled and went flying downward, Annabeth and Piper, along with many furniture, slamming against the wall. 

 “What happened?” 

“I don’t know”

Annabeth and Piper, ignoring the pain shooting through all their bodies, run to the deck, where they found Leo along with Percy, and Hazel. 

“What happened?” Piper repeated 

“Something malfunctioned, we came crashing down, but I don’t know what, everything seems fine” Leo informed, his hand doing something weir with what seems to be a small version of the Argo ii “I will run a test through all the ship, just to make sure, then we can take off again”

“How long would that take? We don’t have time, Nico could die if we don’t hurry” 

“Hazel, I will work fast if it makes you feel better, but if we keep going without a check of the ship there are high chances we blow up mid-air, I have to make sure everything is alright”  

“Fine” Hazel turned around, tears in her eyes, and left, probably to find Frank.

“Are you two okay?”

Annabeth’s gaze moved to Piper before going back to Percy, and her eyes told Piper what Annabeth didn’t utter, it was loud and clear, We will talk later. Piper didn’t want to talk, hadn’t she made that much clear?

“Yes, we are”

Percy moved toward Annabeth, giving her a hug, and then a kiss. A sweet and short kiss. And Piper hopped Percy’s life was poisoned.

Piper turned to Leo, her hands clenched together, her nails digging into her skin “How much will this take, Leo?”

“Two, three hours, at least” 

“Okey. IM when you’re about to finish so I come back” 

“Do I look like your personal assistant?”

“Please Leo, I need to get some air” Leo raised his head and saw the couple, and then Piper, he gave her a sad smile

“Okey, be safe” 

“You can’t go out without a partner, you’ll get yourself killed” 

“Don’t tell me I can’t and can do,” Piper snapped “Chase” 

Piper left the ship in less than a minute, her steps were loud and you could almost see how much she wanted to punch Annabeth.

“What happen between you two?” Percy asked 

Leo laughed “What didn’t happen, is the question”

“Shut up, Valdez” 

Annabeth left the ship too. Looking for Piper.

“Don’t even think about following them” Leo said “You are helping me here”

“But…”

“You are the only one that can breathe underwater, so get down there and give me an inform” 

“Fine” 

[sniffiewrites]

jason ? jealous ? never (jasico oneshot)

read it on ao3

"Prompt request: oblivious Nico and Jason fighting off Nico's suitors" 

—

The weapons were laid out before the sparring demigods. Each sword and shield polished meticulously ‘til they shown. Today, the fighters would choose their partners and have a friendly match.

Jason wanted to spar with Frank, especially since Frank was stronger now. They were hoping they were evenly matched, just to draw the fight out longer.

Jason swept his gaze across the other demigods, spotting a messy mop of black hair. Nico came to visit Hazel, mainly, and to see his boyfriend Jason. It seemed he was itching for a fight, as he wasn’t required to spar.

He chose to fight a child of Mercury, Austin. Austin was new to Camp Jupiter, but from what Jason had seen, he would make a worthy opponent.

Jason and Frank chose swords, and he knew Nico would use his own instead of bothering with the swords and shields.

Turning his gaze away from Nico, Frank and Jason began sizing each other up. They circled each other, looking for openings. There were grunts and groans around them. But all that mattered now was them and who won.

Frank made the first move. He lunged, noticing the loose hold Jason had on the hilt of his sword. Jason turned, avoiding the sharp edge of Frank’s dagger. It was a dance, back and forth, both lunging and narrowly avoiding getting cut.

Who knows how long they fought. It was beautiful. The time went by quickly, as more and more sparring demigods won their matches. Jason and Frank didn’t hear them congratulate each other; they were still busy winning.

A pained gasp drew Jason out of his trance. It was Nico. He whipped his head around. His guard was down now, and Frank took a chance.

He swept Jason’s feet out from under him and pinned him down with his foot on his chest. Jason was surprised. He wasn’t mad, he was impressed.

“You okay, Jason?” Frank asked.

Jason nodded, taking Frank's offered hand. His gaze drifted back to Nico, who was now chatting with Austin. Jason stood up, wanting to listen in on their conversation.

“That was a really cool move back there,” Austin said. Nico helped him up. Their hands were clasped together too long. “You should show me how to do that sometime.”

“Yeah, sure,” Nico replied. It seemed as if he didn’t notice the way Austin’s eyes raked up his form or how he smirked when their hands stopped touching.

To say the least, Jason was infuriated. Everyone here knew him and Nico was a couple. What did Austin think he was doing? He was about to march over there when Nico turned to him.

Nico started walking towards him, and all anger melted away.

“Hey, you alright Jason?”

“Yeah, yeah I'm fine,” Jason mumbled. Frank began walking away, waving to the pair. Jason looked back at Austin and then back to Nico. “You remember that dessert shop we went to the other day?”

“Yeah. Why?”

Austin was looking at them. “I wanna take you on a little date. Head over there and I’ll be right behind you.”

Nico looked at him confusedly, wondering why Jason wouldn’t come with him. It never hit him that Austin was flirting with him and that Jason was angry.

Nico left the sparring grounds, leaving Jason, Austin, and a few other demigods. Jason walked over to Austin, who just smirked and winked at him.

“The Hades do you think you’re doing?” Jason asked him. He grabbed the front of his shirt.

Austin put his hands up in mock surrender. “Hey, man, I just asked your boy if he could show me that move later. Nothing wrong with that.”

“You were flirting with him.”

“And? Since when is that a problem?”

Jason got closer to his face. “Listen here, Austin. Just because Nico can’t catch it doesn’t mean I can’t. You stay away from him, or—“he raised his sword to Austin’s stomach, “—we’re gonna have a problem.”

Austin gulped. His arms were still raised, but now they were shaking. “Yeah, man. I got you. Di Angelo is off limits, one hundred percent.”

Jason let go of him and watched as Austin ran away. He turned, now happy to go on his date with Nico.

—

It happened again in the dessert shop. Nico wanted to wait for Jason before coming in, as he thought it would be rude not to. When the couple went inside to order, the cashier couldn’t keep his eyes off of him.

Nico still couldn’t see what was wrong. He assumed that the cashier was just keeping eye contact, as was good manners. Jason noticed though, and he could feel the same anger rising.

They both got hot chocolates and tiramisu. The cashier never looking away from Nico, even when Jason places his order

“Total is 20 Denarii. He eats free.” He winked at Nico, who just nodded and thanked him.

They found a seat far away from the door so Jason could glare at the cashier without being incredibly obvious.

“Jason, you’re doing it again.” Jason turned around. “What’s the matter? Why’re you so angry all of a sudden?”

Jason was about to answer when the same cashier came to their table. “We made too many cassatines, so I brought an extra one for you guys.” He set the plate in front of Nico. He smiled and Jason saw a piece of paper slipped under the plate. “Enjoy,” he purred and sauntered away.

“Well, that was pretty nice of him,” Nico said, already digging into the cassatine, moaning at the flavor. Jason glared at the cashier who was now taking someone else’s order. Gods, did he want to rip his head off.

“Jason, Earth to Jason.” Nico was snapping his fingers in front of Jason’s face. He snapped out of it and turned to his boyfriend. “You gonna tell me what’s up or what?”

“Later,” Jason said. “I don’t wanna talk about it now.” As he spoke, he stood up and avoided the previous orderer.

The cashier noticed him and raised an eyebrow. “Hey, man. You guys enjoy your food?”

“Don’t give me that. I know your game.”

Another smirk. “Didn’t look like you two were a thing. My bad.”

“Yeah, you bet it’s your bad.” He would’ve grabbed the cashier and throttled him had it not been for Nico holding him back by his shirt.

“Jason, you, me, talk now.” He hauled him out of the shop. “Thank you for the deserts!” He called behind him. Jason was even angrier.

They were both walking quickly now. “You wanna tell me what that was all about?”

Jason shook his head. He would’ve told him that he was jealous and extremely angry at the moment, but that was embarrassing. He wouldn’t be able to live that down.

“I can tell you later, alright? I’m not in the best mood right now.” Nico looked hurt and then angry.

“Alright, Grace. See you later.” He stepped into a shadow of a nearby building and disappeared.

—

Later that week, Jason paid a visit to Camp Half-Blood. He wanted to make things right with Nico and to do that it would mean going to him directly.

Don’t get him wrong, he wasn’t afraid of Nico, but the smaller demigod can be the scariest thing he’s ever laid eyes on. He could get mean, and he could get scary. It was one of the many things Jason loved about him.

First, he needed to figure out what he was going to say. The best thing to do was to not sugarcoat anything and to just go for it. No metaphors, no dancing around the subject, just be clear. Jason was jealous and protective of Nico. There was nothing else to it.

Now, he needed to decide when he was going to talk to him. He could think better on a full stomach, and if they were going to have a cuddle session (which Nico did love, no matter what he says) he wanted to be nice and comfortable. After dinner, then.

He saw Nico talking to a boy from the Aphrodite cabin. Cool it, Jason. They’re just friends. He walked closer, eager to listen in on their conversation.

“-clean the stables tomorrow. Do you think you could help me?”

Nico shrugged. “I don’t have anything better to do.”

“Thank you so much!” the kid jumped up and hugged Nico. It obviously made him uncomfortable, but he took it like a champ. However, the hug lasted too long to be just between friends.

Oh, you have got to be kidding me.

Nico saw Jason coming. He stopped him from maiming the other demigod and started dragging him away.

The grip on Jason’s arm was ironclad, and there would be no getting out of this one.

Jason was shoved into Nico's cabin. After shutting the door, Nico turned to him. “I want an explanation and I want one now, Grace.”

Jason winced at Nico’s tone. He didn’t plan on the night going this way, in fact, he was more nervous than he planned to be. The Aphrodite kid getting too close to Nico wasn’t anywhere on his list of plans tonight.

“Oh well, y’ know, it’s been uh, kind of, you get what I mean.”

Nico's frown deepened.

“If I tell you, do you promise not to laugh?” Nico nodded. “Pinky promise?” Nico sighed and rolled his eyes but took the offered pinky.

Jason took a deep breath. “I’ve been… jealous.”

Nico raised an eyebrow.

“That’s it. I’ve just been jealous about all that attention you’re getting. Austin, the guy at the dessert shop-“

“Josh from the Aphrodite cabin?”

“Exactly, yeah. Guys like that. I just don’t like that they hit on you.”

“They hit on me?”

Jason nodded. Nico looked confused but shook his head. “Is that all that’s been bothering you?” Jason nodded again.

Nico took a few steps forward, linking his arms around Jason’s neck. He leaned up and kissed him on the cheek and then on the lips. “There’s nothing to worry about,” he murmured against Jason’s lips. “I’m all yours.” He kissed Jason again, who deepened the kiss.

Jason put their foreheads together and closed his eyes. “I love you.”

Nico smiled. “I love you too, dummy.”

[eringeosphere]

Had to have high, high hopes for a living. Chapter 2

Part 1

AO3

ix.

When Percy made his decision to stay with Lupa’s pack, his mind had managed to focus on two things. First, that Jason had been way too sad when he’d first met him. Even in the company of the wolves - who were awesome and scary and way bigger than normal wolves. Also really harsh teachers but -

Jason. Sad. Jason alone. Jason who was family. Cousin, technically - and after meeting wolves that weren’t really wolves that could talk, being told that he was the son of a God didn’t really surprise Percy.

Not that Lupa was telling him which godly parent had apparently fallen in love with his mum and then left. ‘Work it out yourself’ had been her general attitude when Percy and Jason had asked.

Okay, Percy may be getting sidetracked slightly. Staying with Lupa. Reason number two: his mum had said that the monsters were after him. Not his mum. Him.

The monsters will keep coming after him. Until Percy can beat the monsters, he’s not safe to be around, and the thought of his mum getting hurt because of him makes something inside of him hurt.

So. Join a wolf pack, protect his mum by not being there. ‘Protect Jason’ gets added to his list of important things within about three hours of his mum leaving, after the younger boy had tripped and nearly face planted into a tree root. Learn to fight off the monsters.

In all honesty, Percy had imagined a lot less running.

x.

It doesn’t take long for Percy to lose track of how long it’s been since he left his mum. He keeps the slip of stiff paper that his mum had written the address of their apartment on buried deep in the pocket of his jeans. Percy can't actually read the words yet, but it's nice to know that he has a way to track his mum down when he eventually gets big and strong.

The days whirl into a blended mess of training and lessons that leave little time for thinking about anything else. He only registers that time has passed in the way that the nights begin to grow longer and colder.

His shoes go missing sometime in between wading across a stream and scrambling up the rocky bank on the other side, and after a little while the soles of his feet toughen enough that he doesn’t miss them.

Percy adapts to sleeping curled up on a pile of blankets in the cave that the pack often returns to, or the ground, or in trees, or in bushes, if they've travelled further afield. Jason had a little bit of a leg up on him in that sense, but soon Percy doesn’t even remember what it felt like to fall asleep alone, without the reassuring pressure of Jason or one of the wolves (or both) against his side.

xi.

Lupa does not simply teach the boys the means to hold their own in a physical manner; her teaching also include the history of their heritage - both Roman and Greek. This is met with varying levels of success, admittedly.

… and thus begat Dionysus by his Greek calling, or Bacchus in his Roman guise, youngest of the Olympians. And so concludes the tale of the origins of the Olympians.

Percy forcibly drags his attention back from where he’d been half distracted by a bird half way up a tree at the sound of Lupa’s pointed cough.

Perseus. Were you listening to the last bit?

Percy nods vigorously, despite his dislike of his full name. “Yes. I was. For sure!”

Lupa hums thoughtfully. Would you care to tell me who the Olympians are, then? They are likely to be very important as you grow older.

Percy frowns. He knows that much, alright. Lupa’s already covered the ‘strong demigods attract strong monsters’, so odds are good that him and Jason have a godly parent with some wallop.

“Wait, what was the question?” Percy asks.

Lupa doesn’t sigh, but Percy gets the impression it’s a near thing. Who are the Olympians, Perceus?”

Percy nods. “Okay, I know this for sure.” He brings his hands up in front of him and starts counting them off. “So there’s lightning guy, ocean dude, lightning guy's jealous wife -“

Behind him, there’s a faint wheezing noise. Percy plows on regardless.

“-plant lady, smart lady, sun dude, that guy’s twin sister …miss hunter! Er. War man, lover lady, volcano dude, messenger person, and … hearth lady or wine guy? And dead dude and his wife are also kinda important?”

Percy looks up from his fingers. Lupa is staring at him, mouth dropped slightly open.

“What?” Percy glances sideways at Jason, sitting cross legged next to him. “I’m pretty sure I got them all!”

Then Percy and Jason are treated to the sight of Lupa, several thousand year old goddess, trainer of Romulus, Remus and countless demigods thereafter, defender of the Roman Empire and Camp Jupiter, flop onto her belly and cover her eyes with her paws.

Jason breaks out into giggles and Percy can’t possibly be mad, if he managed to get his quiet cousin to laugh.

xii.

Percy creeps through the long grass, placing each foot with a care and attention he didn’t possess a couple of months ago. His quarry sits ten paces ahead of him. It hasn’t spotted him yet.

Percy can’t see very far, as the grass is at least as tall as he is, but the faint tugging in his chest that Percy has started to associate with Jason make him pretty certain that his cousin is circling around off to his left.

All to plan so far. Percy inches forward a few more paces.

Then the wind shifts. The rabbit lifts its head and Percy freezes. Please don’t look this way. Percy begs. I do not want to have to track down anotherone.

No such luck. Percy sees the rabbit nostrils flair, and he throws caution to the wind. Percy springs forward into a run, swipes for the rabbit, misses, but somehow manages to scare it into jumping right at Jason. It’s more luck than anything that leads Jason to successfully lock his arms around it before it escapes them both.

There’s a moment of slightly stunned silence.

“Nice, Jason,” Percy gasps, hands on his knees.

Jason flashes him a hesitant smile at the praise. “What now?”

Now, kill it.

At the unexpected voice, Jason and Percy both startle badly, and Percy’s head whips around in the direction of the speaker.

“What!” he exclaims, in sync with Jason.

Lupa’s expression is implacable. Percy is momentarily very jealous over the wolf’s apparent ability to sneak up on both of them through the dried up grass.

There comes a time when every living creature must die, Lupa states.

“Even the gods?” The words are out of his mouth before Percy can stop them, and he immediately wishes that he could take them back.

Jason sucks in a breath next to him. “Percy didn’t mean that!” he exclaims, and Percy feels a surge of fondness for Jason, so willing to try to dig his silly cousin out of trouble of his own making.

Fortunately, Lupa merely looks thoughtful. Yes, Perseus, even the gods may fade one day, she says, ignoring the face Percy pulls at the sound of his full name.

Lupa continues. You delay, little demigods. If you want dinner this evening, kill your catch.

As one, Jason and Percy look down at the rabbit clutched in Jason’s arms.

“Fine,” Percy mutters, and takes half a step towards his cousin, not that he has any idea whatsoever of exactly how he’s supposed to kill the unfortunate rabbit. As it turns out, Percy doesn’t need to, as his movement startles the animal badly enough that it kicks out with its back legs.

Jason yelps, loosens his grip, and the silly animal pushes out of his hands. Percy blinks, and it disappears into the undergrowth.

“I’m sorry,” Jason blurts out, wide-eyed.

Lupa pads forward. Apologies cannot change events. They are simply air and sound.

Jason swallows and Percy blurts out the first thing that comes to his mind. “It’s not dark yet!”

Lupa turns her head to him.

Oh, Percy really wishes he’d manage to think things all the way through once in a while, as he fumbles for the words to continue. “Well - you said we had until sundown to catch a rabbit, right? Right. And it’s still light, so. We’re not out of time yet! Let us try again.”

Percy folds his arms over his chest and glares at Lupa, nodding once - show no weakness - echoing in his head.

Lupa glances up at the sun. You only have a few hours until the sun sets. You’d best move fast if you want dinner this evening. She turns and pads out of the grass field in the direction of the forest. Percy stares after her, surprised that that had actually worked.

Percy looks at Jason. “What a pain -” he begins, then immediately cuts himself off at the sight of Jason’s face.

“Hey no!” Percy exclaims, shifting closer to Jason and wrapping him in a half hug. “What’s wrong - don’t look so upset!”

Jason’s voice wobbles. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. It’s my fault.”

“Oi!” Percy shakes Jason gently. “Hey, I’m not mad, don’t worry about it! I’d have probably done the same thing - you know what I’m like.”

Jason hiccups. “Sorry.”

“Nope - you’ve got nothing to be sorry for. We just have to catch another one!”

Jason hesitates, then nods. Percy grins crookedly. “Great, so - here’s what I think we should do…”

xiii.

Percy can barely see straight. His entire body feels like one big bruise and he can’t breathe properly. He digs his arms underneath him into the dirt and manages to push himself up onto his elbows, but a yelping noise is all the warning he has before a body crashes into him.

“Sorry,” Jason gasps, his legs sprawled across Percy’s back.

Percy reaches an arm around and squeezes Jason’s leg. He doesn’t have enough air to answer him.

Percy lifts his head, and meets Lupa’s calm gaze. The wolf crouches low in the clearing. A handful of other members of the pack: Latia, Cassia, Seneca and Avitus, ring around the edge, watching. They do not interfere.

Are you done? Lupa asks.

Percy knows how this goes. Percy and Jason both know how this goes - Lupa will not stop until she has taught her lesson, or until the two demigods give up. Percy and Jason have yet to give up when she’s been teaching them.

But Lupa has never pushed them this hard before.

Percy stares at Lupa, silent.

Are you done? She repeats.

And Percy, for the first time in a long time, really wishes his mum was here. Wishes that he wasn’t. Then Jason shifts slightly, and Percy remembers why he’d decided to stay. Percy bows his head. Takes a deep breath in, he forces leaden arms to move again. Pushes himself onto his hands and knees, then with a yell of effort, staggers to his feet.

The world spins and Percy very nearly topples straight over again. His head hurts, a dull, throbbing ache.

“Perce?” Jason croaks.

Percy doesn’t - can’t turn his head to look at him. He daren’t take his eyes off Lupa. “Once more, Jace. Come on. One more.”

Jason lets out a wheezy laugh and Percy hears him clamber awkwardly to his feet behind him. “On three?”

Percy’s answer is more of a snarl. “Why wait?”

Very good, little demigods. Lupa purrs as they approach.

Percy and Jason circle Lupa carefully, waiting for a chance. Lupa doesn't give them one. Her hind legs coil beneath her and then Percy has a seven foot tall, several hundred pound wolf lunging towards him.

Several months of newly found reflexes kick in past the fog in his head. Percy ducks beneath her front leg, pushes off the balls of his feet and jumps, somehow landing on Lupa’s back. Percy wraps his arms around Lupa’s throat and squeezes. His world narrows down to flashes of fur and lurching movement, faint yelps and then - a very human cry of pain.

Jason?

Percy’s grip loosens. There’s a violent jerking motion and Percy’s flying - or maybe falling - he’s not, he’s not sure.

Percy hits the ground hard, and then there’s nothing at all.

Percy drifts, for a while. He thinks he might be being carried, but the people surrounding him are warm and familiar but it’s easier to just let himself spiral back down into the dark.

Percy wakes slowly. He can smell woodsmoke and cracking his eyelids open gradually brings into focus the rough stone stone ceiling of their cave, lit in flickering shades of orange and black.

There’s a warm weight on his chest. Percy looks down. Jason is sprawled on top of him, head resting on his chest, asleep. Faint puffs of air tickle Percy’s collarbone as his cousin inhales and exhales. They're both covered in an old wool blanket, but Percy spies the neat bandage wrapped around one of Jason's arms.

Welcome back, Perseus.

“It’s Percy,” comes his ingrained response, even as he twists his head to take in a little more of his surroundings. He glances toward the entrance of the cave.

"It's nighttime?" He guesses, based on the lack of sunlight filtering in.

Indeed. You've been unconscious for several hours. Jason was worried.

Percy blinks. Focuses back on his cousin. He’s not really sure what he can say to that, because Percy doesn’t think he’d change his actions at all. He clumsily wraps one of his arms around Jason’s waist.

“What else was I supposed to do?” He mumbles into Jason’s hair. “You hadn’t told us to stop, and we couldn’t run. We won’t always be able to run, so better to go out fighting than give up when there’s still a chance.”

Lupa doesn’t reply for a long while, enough that Percy begins to drift off to sleep again. A hard lesson to learn little one, but one to remember.

[lake-lyn]

ET’s exclusive excerpt of The Tyrant’s Tomb by Rick Riordan (1/2)

Chapter 1

There is no food here

Meg ate all the Swedish fish

Please get off my hearse

I believe in returning dead bodies.

It seems like a simple courtesy, doesn’t it? A warrior dies, you should do what you can to get their body back to their people for funerary rites. Maybe I’m old-fashioned. I am over four thousand years old. But I find it rude not to properly dispose of corpses.

Achilles during the Trojan War, for instance. Total pig. He chariot-dragged the body of the Trojan champion Hector around the walls of the city for days. Finally I convinced Zeus to pressure the big bully into returning Hector’s body to his parents so he could have a decent burial. I mean, come on. Have a little respect for the people you slaughter.

Then there was Oliver Cromwell’s corpse. I wasn’t a fan of the man, but please. First, the English bury him with honors. Then they decide they hate him, so they dig him up and “execute” his body. Then his head falls off the pike where it’s been impaled for decades and gets passed around from collector to collector for almost three centuries like a disgusting souvenir snow globe. Finally, in 1960, I whispered in the ears of some influential people, Enough, already. I am the god Apollo, and I order you to bury that thing. You’re grossing me out.

When it came to Jason Grace, my fallen friend and half bropppther, I wasn’t going to leave anything to chance. I would personally escort his coffin to Camp Jupiter and see him off with full honors.

That turned out to be a good call. What with the ghouls attacking us and everything.

Sunset turned San Francisco Bay into a cauldron of molten copper as our private plane landed at Oakland Airport. I say our private plane. The chartered trip was actually a parting gift from our friend Piper McLean and her movie star father. (Everyone should have at least one friend with a movie star parent.)

Waiting for us beside the runway was another surprise the McLeans must have arranged: a gleaming black hearse. Meg McCaffrey and I stretched our legs on the tarmac while the ground crew somberly removed Jason’s coffin from the Cessna’s storage bay. The polished mahogany box seemed to glow in the evening light. Its brass fixtures glinted red. I hated how beautiful it was. Death shouldn’t be beautiful.

The crew loaded it into the hearse, then transferred our luggage to the backseat. We didn’t have much: Meg’s back- pack and mine (courtesy of Marco’s Military Madness), my bow and quiver and ukulele, and a couple of sketchbooks and a poster-board diorama we’d inherited from Jason.

I signed some paperwork, accepted the flight crew’s condolences, then shook hands with a nice undertaker who handed me the keys to the hearse and walked away.

I stared at the keys, then at Meg McCaffrey, who was chewing the head off a Swedish fish. The plane had been stocked with half a dozen tins of the squishy red candy. Not anymore. Meg had single-handedly brought the Swedish sh ecosystem to the brink of collapse.

“I’m supposed to drive?” I wondered. “Is this a rental hearse?”

Meg shrugged. During our flight, she’d insisted on sprawling on the Cessna’s sofa, so her dark pageboy haircut was flattened against the side of her head. One rhinestone-studded point of her cat-eye glasses poked through her hair like a disco shark n.

The rest of her out t was equally disreputable: floppy red high-tops, threadbare yellow leggings, and the well-loved knee-length green frock she’d gotten from Percy Jackson’s mother. By well-loved, I mean the frock had been through so many battles, washed and mended so many times, it looked less like a piece of clothing and more like a deflated hot-air balloon. Around Meg’s waist was the pièce de résistance: her multi-pocketed gardening belt, because children of Demeter never leave home without one.

“I don’t have a driver’s license,” she said, as if I needed a reminder that my life was presently being controlled by a twelve-year-old. “I call shotgun.”

“Calling shotgun” didn’t seem appropriate for a hearse. Nevertheless, Meg skipped to the passenger’s side and climbed in. I got behind the wheel. Soon we were out of the airport and cruising north on I-880 in our rented black grief-mobile.

Ah, the Bay Area . . . I’d spent some happy times here. The vast misshapen geographic bowl was jam-packed with interesting people and places. I loved the green-and-golden hills, the fog-swept coastline, the glowing lacework of bridges and the crazy zigzag of neighborhoods shouldered up against one another like subway passengers at rush hour.

Back in the 1950s, I played with Dizzy Gillespie at Bop City in the Fillmore. During the Summer of Love, I hosted an impromptu jam session in Golden Gate Park with the Grateful Dead. (Lovely bunch of guys, but did they really need those fteen-minute-long solos?) In the 1980s, I hung out in Oakland with Stan Burrell—otherwise known as MC Hammer—as he pioneered pop rap. I can’t claim credit for Stan’s music, but I did advise him on his fashion choices. Those gold lamé parachute pants? My idea. You’re welcome, fashionistas.

Most of the Bay Area brought back good memories. But as I drove, I couldn’t help glancing to the northwest—toward Marin County and the dark peak of Mount Tamalpais. We gods knew the place as Mount Othrys, seat of the Titans. Even though our ancient enemies had been cast down, their palace destroyed, I could still feel the evil pull of the place—like a magnet trying to extract the iron from my now-mortal blood.

I did my best to shake the feeling. We had other problems to deal with. Besides, we were going to Camp Jupiter—friendly territory on this side of the bay. I had Meg for backup. I was driving a hearse. What could possibly go wrong?

The Nimitz Freeway snaked through the East Bay flatlands, past warehouses and docklands, strip malls and rows of dilapidated bungalows. To our right rose downtown Oakland, its small cluster of high-rises facing off against its cooler neighbor San Francisco across the Bay as if to proclaim We are Oakland! We exist, too!

Meg reclined in her seat, propped her red high-tops up on the dashboard, and cracked open her window.

“I like this place,” she decided.

“We just got here,” I said. “What is it you like? The abandoned warehouses? That sign for Bo’s Chicken ’N’ Waffles?”

“Nature.”

“Concrete counts as nature?”

“There’s trees, too. Plants flowering. Moisture in the air. The eucalyptus smells good. It’s not like . . .”

She didn’t need to finish her sentence. Our time in Southern California had been marked by scorching temperatures, extreme drought, and raging wild res—all thanks to the magical Burning Maze controlled by Caligula and his hate-crazed sorceress bestie, Medea. The Bay Area wasn’t experiencing any of those problems. Not at the moment, anyway.

We’d killed Medea. We’d extinguished the Burning Maze. We’d freed the Erythraean Sibyl and brought relief to the mortals and withering nature spirits of Southern California.

But Caligula was still very much alive. He and his co- emperors in the Triumvirate were still intent on controlling all means of prophecy, taking over the world, and writing the future in their own sadistic image. Right now, Caligula’s fleet of evil luxury yachts was making its way toward San Francisco to attack Camp Jupiter. I could only imagine what sort of hellish destruction the emperor would rain down on Oakland and Bo’s Chicken ’N’ Waffles.

Even if we somehow managed to defeat the Triumvirate, there was still that greatest Oracle, Delphi, under the control of my old nemesis Python. How I could defeat him in my present form as a sixteen-year-old weakling, I had no idea.

But, hey. Except for that, everything was fine. The eucalyptus smelled nice.

Traf c slowed at the I-580 interchange. Apparently, California drivers didn’t follow that custom of yielding to hearses out of respect. Perhaps they gured at least one of our passengers was already dead, so we weren’t in a hurry.

Meg toyed with her window controls, raising and lower- ing the glass. Reeee. Reeee. Reeee.

“You know how to get to Camp Jupiter?” she asked.

“Of course.”

“ ’Cause you said that about Camp Half-Blood.”

“We got there! Eventually.”

“Frozen and half-dead.”

“Look, the entrance to camp is right over there.” I waved vaguely at the Oakland Hills. “There’s a secret passage in the Caldecott Tunnel or something.”

“Or something?”

“Well, I haven’t actually ever driven to Camp Jupiter,” I admitted. “Usually I descend from the heavens in my glorious sun chariot. But I know the Caldecott Tunnel is the main entrance. There’s probably a sign. Perhaps a Demigods Only lane.”

Meg peered at me over the top of her glasses. “You’re the dumbest god ever.” She raised her window with a final Reeee. SHLOOMP!—a sound that reminded me uncomfortably of a guillotine blade.

We turned west onto Highway 24. The congestion eased as the hills loomed closer. The elevated lanes soared past neighborhoods of winding streets and tall conifers, white stucco houses clinging to the sides of grassy ravines.

A road sign promised CALDECOTT TUNNEL ENTRANCE, 2 MI. That should have comforted me. Soon, we’d pass through the borders of Camp Jupiter into a heavily guarded, magically camouflaged valley where an entire Roman legion could shield me from my worries, at least for a while.

Why, then, were the hairs on the back of my neck quivering like sea worms?

Something was wrong. It dawned on me that the uneas- iness I’d felt since we landed might not be the distant threat of Caligula, or the old Titan base on Mount Tamalpais, but something more immediate . . . something malevolent, and getting closer.

I glanced in the rearview mirror. Through the back window’s gauzy curtains, I saw nothing but traffic. But then, in the polished surface of Jason’s coffin lid, I caught the reflection of movement from a dark shape outside—as if a human-size object had just own past the side of the hearse.

“Oh. Meg?” I tried to keep my voice even. “Do you see anything unusual behind us?”

“Unusual like what?”

THUMP.

The hearse lurched as if we’d been hitched to a trailer full of scrap metal. Above my head, two foot-shaped impressions appeared in the upholstered ceiling.

“Something just landed on the roof,” Meg deduced.

“Thank you, Sherlock McCaffrey! Can you get it off?”

“Me? How?”

That was an annoyingly fair question. Meg could turn the rings on her middle fingers into wicked gold swords, but if she summoned them in close quarters, like the interior of the hearse, she a) wouldn’t have room to wield them, and b) might end up impaling me and/or herself.

CREAK. CREAK. The footprint impressions deepened as the thing adjusted its weight like a surfer on a board. It must have been immensely heavy to sink into the metal roof.

A whimper bubbled in my throat. My hands trembled on the steering wheel. I yearned for my bow and quiver in the backseat, but I couldn’t have used them. DWSPW, driving while shooting projectile weapons, is a big no-no, kids.

“Maybe you can open the window,” I said to Meg. “Lean out and tell it to go away.”

“Um, no.” (Gods, she was stubborn.) “What if you try to shake it off?”

Before I could explain that this was a terrible idea while traveling fifty miles an hour on a highway, I heard a sound like a pop-top aluminum can opening—the crisp pneumatic hiss of air through metal. A claw punctured the ceiling—a grimy white talon the size of a drill bit. Then another. And another. And another, until the upholstery was studded with ten pointy white spikes—just the right number for two very large hands.

“Meg?” I yelped. “Could you—?”

I don’t know how I might have finished that sentence. Protect me? Kill that thing? Check in the back to see if I have any spare undies?

I was rudely interrupted by the creature ripping open our roof like we were a birthday present.

Staring down at me through the ragged hole was a withered, ghoulish humanoid, its blue-black hide glistening like the skin of a house y, its eyes filmy white orbs, its bared teeth dripping saliva. Around its torso uttered a loincloth of greasy black feathers. The smell coming off it was more putrid than any dumpster—and believe me, I’d fallen into a few.

“FOOD!” it howled.

“Kill it!” I yelled at Meg.

“Swerve!” she countered.

One of the many annoying things about being incarcerated in my puny mortal body: I was Meg McCaffrey’s servant. I was bound to obey her direct commands. So when she yelled “swerve,” I yanked the steering wheel hard to the right. The hearse handled beautifully. It careened across three lanes of traffic, barreled straight through the guardrail, and plummeted into the canyon below.

[couldnt-think-of-a-funny-name]

Jason He's made out to be the new, better Percy . He is also a massive Gary Stu in my opinion. Leo He's really rude to Frank. I know they got over it but still also he acted like it was all Percy's fault Calypso was on the island even though Percy tried to help. Piper She had so much potential but whenever anyone talks about her being Aphrodite's best daughter or whatever I'm like 'Do you remember SELINA??!!) also she has a huge I'm not like other Girls complex and is kinda obsessed with Jason.

We have REALLY different views on them so I’m gonna see how well I can articulate My Analysis Of My Children okay let’s go:

Jason…I think the point was that he’s perceived as a ‘Gary Stu’, ‘better Percy’ type guy when that’s actually not the reality of who he is? Like, his whole life everyone’s always been “Your father is the king of the gods! You should lead us!” and so he’s had to get used to this role, he’s had to create this character to make people feel like they’re in good hands…but he hates it. He hates being the leader and being in power, but up until the 7 meet up that’s the only thing he really knows. He never really had a chance to discover himself outside of this role shoved onto him. At first, he doesn’t really know who he is other than ‘Jupiter’s Son’.

He can’t help that everyone has high expectations for him, and he’s a people pleaser so he’s going to do his damndest to meet those expectations, but like? We saw how stressed out he was leading the quest in HoH. He was barely sleeping and practically pulling his hair out, pushing himself to fix everything and make sure everyone was okay while ignoring his own problems. That’s what Jason must’ve been like when he was leading the legion- everyone remembers him as a strong and regal leader, because that’s the expectation, that’s what they want him to be, and he came damn well put on a good performance when he needs to, but 24/7 while he’s living in closed quarters with people? Yeah, no. He wanted Percy and Annabeth back so he could stop having pretending he knew what he was doing (and because he was worried about them obviously). 

The thing is, once you strip away “Son of Jupiter”…Jason doesn’t really meet any of the expectations placed on him. Over the course of the series he starts worrying about that less and less, he loosens up and actually starts to find out who he is other than what people want…He doesn’t match up to the image:

He’s not actually the strongest demigod out there- he’s a very well trained fighter, sure, but like…We’ve seen Thalia shoot out massive amounts of lightning like it’s no one’s business without breaking a sweat. Jason has to actually ask for a helpful bolt and the effort almost knocks him out. His talents lie with the winds, which…I don’t think ‘wind’ comes to anyone’s minds immediately when talking about Jupiter. And it’s also not a power that, at face value, seems super helpful. But Jason manages to cultivate it and makes it powerful enough to stall Gaea. 

He’s not strong and regal, he’s excitable and dorky. He gets so sucked in to reading some book he found interesting that he walks into a tree. He bounces and hugs people when he gets happy. He can’t keep his glasses on straight and looses them on top of his head. He loves talking about history. He got so distracted by how pretty his girlfriend is that he forgot what he was talking about. He got shish kabob-ed and his immediate reaction was “I finally managed to stay conscious for an entire fight”. He was trying to talk a goddess out of killing his friend and the first thing to come to mind is “I’ll get Olympus to make an action figure of you!”. This kid is a LOSER.

He’s not a stoic ruler, he worries about every single person under his command. Individually. He doesn’t lead troops like, well, troops- he leads them like teammates. He’s greatly affected when the people working with him are upset, and he’s very perceptive about their feelings. His constantly checking in on Nico after the Cupid scene, his understanding of Piper’s issues in TLH, his belief in Frank, his worrying about Percy and Annabeth…this boy knew Leo was upset simply by looking at his DRINK ORDER, and then even though Leo offered up no real information, it took him like under five minutes of just observing him to know Leo was heartbroken. 

There’s so many other points but like…Jason’s story was about a boy born with crazy expectations shedding those and growing into his own person while still maintaining the sense of duty he had to the people he cared about. He had an entire identity crisis for this very reason. Camp Jupiter was his home, but Camp Half Blood is where he found himself. He loved both places and by the end of the story he came out with a strong and comfortable sense of self. He came out of it with a new path and set of expectations that he decided for himself. He went through trials and dealt with his emotions and found peace with himself and his role in the world. I think it was a very compelling plotline and not ‘gary stu’ like at all. 

Leo…We really have to take into account that Leo’s always assumed the role of ‘the jokester’. Despite the fact he’s a genius, Leo doesn’t actually see himself as talented and the environment he grew up in absolutely shapes that. He said himself in TLH- being the funny guy kept him safe most of the time. He didn’t feel he had much else to offer, and no one around him believed he did either, people only kept him around for jokes. I think what happened with Frank was like…his default setting. That sounds bad (and it is) but it really does need to be taken into consideration- we know Leo’s only been in, like, exclusively bad environments before the events of the series. Anyone who just kept him around for a laugh probably didn’t wanna hear knock knock jokes about engineers. His best bet for not getting in trouble or abandoned would be to rag on someone who was an easier target than him. Leo knows he can trust Jason and Piper, and he’s scared of Annabeth but is mostly sure she won’t kill him…but then he gets possessed and blows up half of New Rome. Everyone’s mad at him. Including the three new people he knows absolutely nothing about but all look like they could eat his tiny scrawny ass for a snack. I feel like it’s not a stretch to say he felt an old urge to protect himself kick in, to make sure he fits into this group because what the hell is he gonna do if he doesn’t? The fact that Frank was already annoyed with him for looking like Sammy didn’t exactly help their dynamic…Like, I’m just saying, I think he really stepped it up on the Frank jokes because of his ‘seventh wheel’ complex. He’s used to using comedy to make himself valuable to people. He knows he has to be on this quest no matter what, but that doesn’t mean people have to want him there, you know? He wants to be wanted. That’s Leo’s whole thing? He already built the entire boat but they’re mad at him for things out of his control. He feels like he’s gotta do something else to be relevant to the group so he just…slides into his old defense mechanism and as he’d be used to, it’s easiest to go for the easiest target. Who is Frank. And the whole weird Sammy and Hazel situation definitely exacerbated the whole thing. And it wasn’t fair to Frank, absolutely, which Leo himself eventually realizes and knocks it off. But I just think it’s not fair to say “Leo’s doing this because he’s a dick”. Like, people are often more complicated than that. 

As for the Calypso situation…Listen, I think Percy feeling guilt for Calypso still being on her island made no sense and someone needs to assure him that that’s not his fault. However, Calypso didn’t know that. Calypso didn’t have all the facts. She had every right to be upset with Percy. It was going to be awkward with Leo and Percy anyway, because like, oh hey dude while you were in hell I made out with your ex and she loves me now. But like…I don’t think it was wrong for Leo to be upset on Calypso’s behalf? The girl he’s crazy about is trapped on an island because Jackson couldn’t be bothered to check on her! (Which is of course NOT THE CASE but that’s Calypso’s view on the matter, that’s what she told Leo). I’m just saying like, he’s relatively new to relationships and he heard a biased explanation of the situation…It makes sense that he’d side with her? 

The thing we need to remember is…Leo and Calypso both have abandonment issues. And from Leo’s understanding, he’s sharing a boat with the guy that had Severely Hurt the girl he now loves. (And if she HADN’T been so hurt when they met, they might’ve had more time as a couple before he had to plunge back into the unknown) Looking at his actions and thoughts from an outside, biased viewpoint might make him look awful and crazy but…From his specific point of view, it makes sense. And Percy was able to see that, which is why they were able to talk it all out. I just think it’s a real shame that Leo Valdez is this complex, compelling character, but people only remember him for fighting with Frank and being crazy about Calypso. It’s reducing him. He had a lot more going on and was a very believable character with easily explainable traits and actions. 

Piper…Was one of Aphrodite’s best children, though? She had the most powerful charmspeak in generations. Like, that’s canon. Silena was a great character and a great cabin head, but she had no powers and was a relatively weak fighter. I love her as much as the next, but that’s just canonical fact. Her strongest asset was her heart and loyalty, which were used against her, and she died trying to make things right. She wouldn’t have made it on the Prophecy of the Seven quest. She wouldn’t. But Piper was a powerful charmspeak, was immensely brave, and constantly worked at being a better fighter (which, again, in canon, the Aphrodite kids are not the best fighters). By the time the series ends she’s a wickedly skilled swordsmen, is the only one who can work the cornucopia because of her inner strength and giving nature, has a dagger that can see the future, always knows how people around her are feeling, completely dominated a literal temple of fear and terror, and was powerful enough to order the literal planet earth to sleep. Piper is strong and brave and she’s constantly working on bettering herself. She was able to not only see the other side of Aphrodite, but to fight for it to be what everyone sees. She changes people’s perception of the cabin and the goddess herself. She did have a ‘not-like-other-girls’ complex when we first met her, but she was a bullied kid who grew up around rich white teens in Hollywood. But it’s a complex she catches in herself and grows out of- she stops trying to be #edgy and lets herself be comfortable in her skin, grows her hair out and wears a little makeup and puts thought into her outfits- but she also stops judging other people. She learns to see the beauty in everyone she meets. She redefines her outlook. That’s admirable, in my opinion. 

As for ‘obsessed with Jason’, I mean…it really just kinda reads, personally anyway, as “I’m A Teenage Girl And I Think My Significant Other Is Just The Coolest Thing Since Sliced Bread”…? Like? He’s her boyfriend, she’s fifteen. He’s cute and cool and a dork all at the same time. She goes from ‘mega crush heart eyes’ mode to actually falling in love with him, that’s not an obsession, that’s like…a natural progression of feelings. She’s always had her own storylines and she’s fully able to focus on things that aren’t Jason. But of course she thinks about him, he’s important to her? They’re a good match, they’re usually on similar wavelengths, and they work well together. She doesn’t think about him more than Annabeth and Percy think about each other. Piper shouldn’t be reduced to a fangirl just because she occasionally thinks to herself “Damn my boyfriend is hot”. She’s a very relatable and impressive character that deserves more than that. 

I really hope this doesn’t end up being like, a ramble, and that I actually properly articulated how I see the characters, but like…yeah. I do love this trio. 

[jugggheadjoness]

the parent trap pt7 // archie andrews

The Parent Trap (7/12)

Words: 1.6k

Summary-Archie and (Y/N) separate, splitting their twin daughters between them. what happens when ten years later, the pair seem to be reunited in a twist of fate at summer camp?

previous masterlist next

“Mr Andrews! HI!” Jessica exclaimed, looking over to Aria, panicked and trying to think of a reason for Aria being, well, herself. “Amelia, over here, was just doing her impression of my cabin mate from camp.”

Archie eyed the two girls suspiciously before chuckling. Aria let out the breath she was holding in. “Terrible accent, Melia. Not even remotely British.”

Aria gasped at her father’s words and her inner self scoffed at his comment. “Okay, dad, you can go now! Catch up with you at dinner!” She grinned, rushing over to her father, pushing him out of her doorway and shutting the door in his face.

“I’ve only been home for a day and he already offends me like that.” Aria joked, knowing her father was still listening in. The pair sat in silence waiting to hear footsteps that would signal Archie had left.

“He probably hasn’t heard a British accent since your mom and uncle left him but anyways back to Tom Mantle!”

Archie’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion, Amelia didn’t seem to be Amelia. She seemed to be more bubbly and he loved this new found persona of hers; he was scared to burst her bubble by telling her what he needed to. Amelia never liked change and he couldn’t possibly imagine how she’d take the change that was about to happen.

“I can’t seem to tell her, Lil.” Archie sighed, pulling himself up onto the kitchen counter “I think it’s time for me to move on.”

“I think it’s time you told your daughter about Aria. Before you add this woman, who, by the way, none of us have met yet, into her life. She grew up with only me, you and your father. I don’t think she’s willing to accept this woman, she hasn’t met, straight away. So if she reacts differently then you wanted her to, don’t get mad.”

“She needs to find out about Miranda soon, the wedding’s in three months.” Archie groaned “We’re meant to be going out to San Francisco in a week.”

“You make this seem like it’s impossible. Fine, invite Miranda to lunch here in two hours and you can tell Amelia about Aria and (Y/N) when you’re ready but for now, tell her about Miranda before it’s too late.” Lillian smiled at the man, her hands shooing him out of the kitchen towards Amelia’s room.

Amelia sat on the passenger’s side of her mom’s car. She grinned as she passed by every landmark Aria had told her about. Amelia loved the thrill of busyness within the city. She loved seeing the tourists taking pictures with Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. She had yet to explore the city by foot but for now spending time with her mother was just what she wanted. “So I’ve been called into work today but instead of leaving you with Jughead once again, I decided to take you.”

Amelia grinned at her mother instead of responding and kept her sight on the landmarks around her. Riverdale was nothing like this. London had a constant noise of chatter and running engines, whereas Riverdale was quiet, the most noise heard would be the site her grandfather was working on.

(Y/N) bit her lip trying to keep the tears back. Nothing had hurt her more than seeing Archie cry. She knew her words were harsh and would cut like a knife but she never expected this impact on him. He held his face in his hands, not wanting to show her his moment of weakness. “God, Archie Andrews, I am so proud of you so why do I feel like this feeling isn’t mutual? Why do I feel like you aren’t proud of me? Why is this a one-sided thing?“

Archie sighed and looked at (Y/N), who was looking down at her hands. He noticed her tear stained face and the redness of her eyes that usually glimmered like the sun on a warm winter’s day. Her eyes looked so lifeless as she stared at her hands. Her face wasn’t holding her natural smiley look. She looked empty.

“If I were given a chance out in London to achieve my dreams, start my own boutique, make a name for myself, would you let me take it?” she asked him, taking his hand into hers “Would you leave this small town to help me prove you wrong?” (Y/N) sat, waiting for Archie’s answer but she was met with a thick silence. “No. No, you wouldn’t. You don’t want to leave Riverdale behind, you’re seventeen and have basically gotten what you’ve wanted. You wouldn’t give it up for me because you’re selfish. You are one of the most selfish humans I have ever met. You claim you’re not good enough for me because you’re scared to get hurt. I’m not asking you to run away with me, Arch, I’m asking you to take more pride in me. I’m asking you to believe in yourself, to believe you are good enough because we’ve basically been together since we were nine and I haven’t left just yet, I haven’t run away yet. Now, in this day and time, it’s even harder for me to run when I have a baby bump the size of Jupiter.”

Archie let out a loud snort at (Y/N)’s comment at the end, causing her to join in with his laughter. It was in that moment she realised that the reason why she hadn’t left yet was because no matter how much they argued, their love always came on top.

Aria sighed as she looked through Amelia’s draws. She desperately wished she had brought back her own bag back to her father’s house with her. Amelia’s clothes consisted of light blue jeans, that Aria despised. She made a mental note to take her sister shopping once the plan had fallen into place. A knock on her bedroom door pulled her out of her thoughts. “Come in!”

Archie looked at Aria and noticed the pile of clothes surrounding her. He noticed that she sat with a frown on her face almost as if she didn’t know what to wear, which was unlike Amelia. Amelia never planned outfits, she usually threw on whatever she picked out first. “You okay, A?”

“Yeah, dad. What’s up?”

“I want to talk about something and I don’t want you to get angry.” Archie looked at his daughter, who raised an eyebrow at him. “I don’t know how to say this so I’m just going to say it. I’m getting married in three months, Amelia!”

Aria felt a knot at the back of her throat, she had to alert Amelia immediately. She was unsure of whether to be glad for a father or angry. She preferred the latter choice. She believed that her mother would never move on and if she found out about this wedding it might ruin her forever. Aria was angry, she was angry that Amelia failed to mention her father’s girlfriend, now his fiancée. She was angry at her mother for never moving on. Of course, she had dated, and she dated quite often until recently. Her ex, Luke, never failed to make Aria laugh and her uncle Jughead loved him but their relationship stopped suddenly. She also noticed that her mother had stopped wearing the locket, her auntie Veronica gave her mum, before she left for camp. Now Aria thought about it, maybe it was a sign of her mother moving on.

“You’re probably not going to tell me you’re happy for me but I want you to know, we’re heading out to San Francisco next week.” Archie looked at his daughter once again, only to see her gaze flicker off him right to the door behind him. “I’ll take that as my cue to leave, but please think about it. I’m sure you’ll love Miranda!”

Aria rushed to her bedside table and picked the phone up, immediately dialling her number into it. The phone rang for what seemed to be forever, making Aria grow impatient. With her phone pressed against her ear, she wandered off into the back garden, noting that it was bigger than expected and that she shouldn’t wander too far in fear of getting lost.

“Hi! Sorry, I’m at mom’s shop and had to sneak off so I asked for some money for food. She gave me a loooong speech about how I should be cautious around the city but I’m here now!” Amelia rambled, causing Aria to giggle. “I have some news, uncle Jughead caught me straightaway!”

“Amelia, no! Don’t mess with me like this, you’re joking.”

“I’m not but look on the bright side, he promised not to tell mom or grandpa about it, so whenever we’re alone, he tends to let me talk normally. By the way, does your mouth ever getting tired of speaking because doing your accent in killing me!”

Aria rolled her eyes, only her sister would ramble away during the call. She could barely get a word in before Amelia started talking again. “Amelia, father is getting married soon and you’re ranting away about how tiring doing my accent, which, for your information, i don’t have, is.”

“What do you mean dad’s getting married? He doesn’t even have a girlfriend. Well, he’s certainly never mentioned having one.”

“No Amelia, he doesn’t have a girlfriend because he has a bloody fiancée.” Aria shouted, causing Amelia to burst out into laughter.

“I think that was the most British you’ve ever sounded.”

Lillian and Aria looked at each other as a ridiculously annoying squeal broke the silence and entered their hearing. Toby immediately ran over to the woman, instantly knocking her down, almost as if her high pitched squeal had hurt the dog’s ears.

“Well, aren’t you annoying?” Aria grinned, placing a hand out for Miranda to hold on to and helping the woman up. “I’m Amelia and you must be my father’s ex-fiancée.”

[masquad-fanfics]

Siblings - Percy Jackson

For Percy, finding out he had a sister that was as human as he was could probably be the best thing that happened to him. Now, don't get him wrong, he loved Tyson to bits, but it just wasn't the same, and since he started working for Hephaestus' Underwater Forges he barely ever saw him. But still, there was something different with his sister. The thing is, Greek mythology is incredibly confusing by itself. And having two different, but very similar mythologies, at the same time only worsened it. It'd be too long to explain how, him being son of Poseidon, while his sister was daughter of Neptune, worked, so it's just enough for us to know it is possible to happen and that's how it was.

His sister's name was Madison, although he had gotten the liking to calling her Mads. She had brunette hair and chestnut eyes, in contrast with Percy’s jet black hair and sea green eyes. But they were a lot more similar when it came to personality, both being awkward but also charming in their own way. They were only a year apart, and right from the moment they met they’d barely leave each other’s side.

But how did they meet? Well, actually he didn’t meet her at the same time as he did with the rest of the Roman demigods. It was some weeks later, in a very classic place for a son of Poseidon. The sea. Percy was strolling down the beach, not having anything to do and just enjoying the soothing marine breeze and the occasional feeling of the cool water against his skin. He reached the end, where the golden sand abruptly transformed into an exuberant forest. He decided to stay there as he waited for the sun to disappear in the horizon. Little by little, the sky began transforming into a beautiful orange, light red, and lavender watercolour, which was reflected in the vast ocean ahead of him. But suddenly, he saw something that called his attention. There was an object in the water. At first, he didn't give it much thought, it could even be a dolphin, since it was far enough to be able to swim in that depth. But it kept getting closer and closer, until he recognized it was a human. It wouldn't be that much of a surprise to see a human coming out of the sea, if it wasn't for the fact that he hadn't seen their belongings anywhere, and now that they were close enough, he was able to notice that their hair and clothes weren't soaked. Well, not their, but her, it was a girl. In that moment he didn't even think of this, but later that night he'd see how stupid he was not to realize she was one of his kind, since no regular human could be underwater without getting wet. But right then it took him by surprise. The girl seemed a bit startled too when she became aware of his presence, probably because she didn't think there'd be anyone there.

"H-hi." She greeted once she was in front of Percy and with no way of avoiding him.

"Hey." Was the only thing he said. After an awkward silence he managed to form another sentence. "How can you be, you know, dry?"

The girl giggled "It's quite a long story."

"Are you a demigod?" He suddenly blurted out. She looked at him surprised, not expecting him to know, and she simply nodded.

"I'm Percy, by the way."

"Madison." Another silence followed, this time interrupted by her. "Why do you know about demigods?" She asked as she sat beside him.

"I happen to be one." He smirked, gaining his confidence.

"Really?! You must be new then, I've never seen you on the camp."

"Neither have I." He soon became aware of the fact that there were two camps, making it a lot easier as to why they had never seen each other. "Wait, are you in Camp Jupiter?"

She laughed at his question. "Of course. Where else would I be?"

"That explains why we've never seen each other... I'm not from there, I'm from Camp Half-Blood."

"Camp Half what?" She furrowed her brows and gave him a sceptical look.

"Camp Half-Blood. It's the Greek one."

"Well, those are some big news. And what are you doing here?"

"It's quite a long story." He answered repeating the same she had told him before. She laughed, something that for some strange reason reminded him of his own laugh. "Weird." He thought, and just pushed those thoughts aside. "I was there a couple of weeks ago. In your camp. I think it's safe to say that I've now met everyone."

"You were missing the best part then." She said grinning widely. Again, there was something in the way she smiled that also reminded him of himself. He came back to reality when he noticed Madison's stare. "Uh?"

"I was asking who your godly father is. Or mother."

"Oh, it's Poseidon."

"Really?" Her eyes lighted up when she heard his words.

"Yeah."

"My father is Neptune."

"Wait, isn't that technically the same one?"

"I suppose."

"That makes us brothers then." It suddenly made sense. How there were things about them that felt so similar to him.

"But we look nothing alike."

"That must be because of our mothers." He couldn't really assimilate it. And neither could Madison. All that time they had been pretty much by themselves, but having someone just like them felt like nothing they had felt until that moment.

"I just remembered." Percy said excited. "You have another brother. Well, kind of. He's a Cyclops, but he's the best dude you'll meet. I'll have to take you to see him, he's gonna be so happy."

   ~ ~ ~

For the past days Percy stayed in Camp Jupiter. Madison was having a great time being able to show his brother around and having him meet her friends. And enemies. Not that she had many, but Percy had insisted in knowing who they were. Just in case, he said. He had no idea what he had to do when being a brother, so he took the safety path and remained being himself mostly, but his most protective side also appeared from time to time. This always made Madison laugh, finding it really funny how he'd glare at anyone she didn't particularly like whenever he walked past them.

But after another week she was eager to go with Percy to Camp Half-Blood. See how different things were in a Greek demigods camp. Percy was a bit reluctant. He was sure he could easily take care of her, but he wasn't sure if she was ready to leave the camp. After all she had never been on a mission, and the furthest she had left was in her occasional gateways in the sea. And in their case, the sea meant constant protection.

"You’re telling me I can't go when you went in your first mission being how old? 12? 13?" She had a good point in there. If he had been able to literally go down to hell and come back alive, why couldn't she go to his camp? He finally gave in, not before making a mental note not to tell her any of his adventures, at least not in such detail as he had. "But it doesn't just depend on me. You'll have to ask the ones in charge if they give you permission."

"I already did. They said it's ok as long as I go with you. And..." She run to her cabin, and in less than three minutes she was back "I already packed my things. And yours too. So we can leave right now." She said as she handed him his bag. "Are you sure you got everything?"

Madison rolled her eyes "Yes dad." She mocked. Percy lightly hit her, faking annoyance. "Let's go then."

    *time skip*

"Oh don't be like that."

"I said no, boss."

"Blackjack, are you kidding? Didn't you say you'd serve me on everything?"

"On everything necessary, yes. You don't need me for this, I can just stay. It's quite nice here actually."

"But all the dangers there are outside! Can't you at least take her?"

"No is no, boss. Plus, I promised the others I'd go with them to get some donuts. You know there's no way I'm refusing to that."

Percy sighed in exasperation. Even if he was taking Madison with him to his camp, his idea had always been for Blackjack to take them. That way, there was no chance a monster could attack them. But his dear Pegasus friend wasn't helping at all. He saw there was no way of convincing him, so he just began walking away.

"Call me when you need me, boss." Said the horse as Percy left. The boy just huffed, making both Madison and Blackjack laugh. Well, Blackjack neighed, but it could perfectly be translated for a laugh.

"He says he can't take us." Percy said, trying to ignore the fact that his own horse was laughing at him.

"I know." Percy looked at Madison stranged. "How do you-"

"I can understand horses too." She cut him. "I'm a daughter of Neptune after all."

"R-right. I sometimes forget I'm not the only one." He let out a nervous snicker, and Madison laughed again at how forgetful he was. "You can't escape the adventure now!" She grabbed one of his arms and began pulling him towards the exit of the camp, excitement radiating from her.

    ~ ~ ~

Percy had to be grateful. Throughout the whole journey they didn't come across a monster a single time. Madison was slightly disappointed because she had been hoping to fight an epic battle and be able to narrate it when she arrived, but Percy cheered her up by telling her she'd have enough battles in the future. 'If you were me you wouldn't want to go through any of that in the foreseeable future', he once said. It had taken them about two weeks to arrive to the forest that surrounded the Greek camp. Reaching to this part always saddened Percy. Even if his mother was no longer in danger, he still remembered that tragic day vividly. Madison noticed the sudden change in her brother, but decided not to ask him about it.

"So, we've basically arrived." He began, not wanting to remember that day. "Only go up this hill and you'll be able to see the camp."

Madison nodded and followed Percy. They were halfway to reach the top when a noise made them stop in their tracks. "Do you hear that?" Madison asked.

"It sounds like a... " He stopped in the middle of the sentence, analyzing the noises. He could hear the stomps of hoofs, but they didn't sound loud enough to be from a Minotaur. But the noise increased, so it could just be far. "Like a Minotaur. But I think quite a small one." He was able to recognise it coming from his right, so he turned to that side and prepared for the imminent attack. "Stay behind me. Hopefully you won't need to do anything."

Madison was about to protest when the creature appeared from the shadows. Percy would've taken his sword out if it wasn't for the fact that he instantly recognised who it was. "Grover!! Shit, you scared me! "

"That's what I was trying." He went to give him a short hug, noticing Madison standing behind Percy when he hugged him. "Mind asking, who is she?"

"Oh, this is Madison, my sister. Mads, this is Grover, my weird half goat friend."

"I'm not 'half goat', I'm a satyr. But the important thing is, since when did you have a sister?"

"Since like a, uh, three weeks ago?"

"And how did you meet?" Grover asked as they continued heading towards the entrance of the camp.

"While I was at Camp Jupiter, I was one day by the sea and saw her there."

"So she's Roman then." Percy only nodded as an answer. "Does that still make her your sister?"

"Yeah, I guess. I mean, we later on asked to be sure, and they told us it's something that can totally happen."

"And I thought we had enough with one of your kind. Anyways, welcome to Camp Half-Blood, Madison."

"Thanks." Madison smiled. "I was wondering, how are things different here?"

"Uh... Well, first off there are Greek demigods." Madison laughed at his obvious answer, making Grover blush a little. It didn't matter how long it passed, he'd always be Percy's shy and only friend while at school. "I-i can't really know if there's anything different, I've never been in a Roman camp."

"An important difference is that you don't have Mr. D running the camp." Percy added.

"Mr. D?"

"You'll soon meet him. He's an incredible guy." He answered sarcastically.

    ~ ~ ~

Madison was enjoying her time to the fullest. Mr. D had greeted her... Well, like he greeted anyone else. He had already changed her name just like he did with Percy, so they assumed he only did it with any of Poseidon's relatives.

It happened to be a special day, since they were playing Capture the Flag. Madison was nearly jumping from excitement, as Percy told her how was the game going to be, the rules they used and the best tactics to win.

The afternoon finally arrived, coming with it the start of the game. They all put on their armours and helmets with a blue or red plume, depending on the team they were in. As every year, Percy was in the blue team, and thus so was his sister. He told his tactic to the rest of his teammates: both of them would be the ones in charge of the flag. In that way, having some of the strongest ones closer to the flag would make it more difficult for the other team to get it and easier for them to protect it. They then prepared a series of strategies to get the red flag, and after a whole hour of preparations, they were ready to start.

Chiron signaled the beginning, and right then every demigod began running to their places. Percy and Madison found the perfect location to place their flag, where it was well hidden and where, at the same time, the opposite team could catch a glimpse of it without giving away their exact position.

"So the plan is" Percy began saying. "If someone comes I'll go and fight them. You stay next to the flag in case they are too many and I can't deal with all of them." Madison opened her eyes widely "Are you kidding Percy? I'm not gonna stay here without doing a thing."

"Look it's dangerous and-"

"Percy. It's a game."

"I know, but they can be very harsh and maybe they hurt you."

"I've been 16 years by myself, don't you think I can handle a Capture the Flag game?"

"I'm sure you can, but I'm saying that just in case... "

"I swear, you're such an stereotypical brother."

"Why you say that?"

"Cause you're always so overprotective."

"I'm not."

While the two siblings argued about this little thing some other demigods from the red team appeared. By the time they noticed their presence they were incredibly close to getting their flag. Madison was the first one to see them and she run in their direction, drawing her sword. Percy stood where he was for a moment before following his sister. Regardless of their efforts by fighting two demigods each, there was a fifth one they didn't see, who made his way towards the flag and easily took it. Percy and Madison stared dumbfounded at him, realizing how easily they had lost just because they didn't want their respective sibling getting hurt. For some reason they found that very funny and began laughing non stop, while everyone looked at them puzzled. When Grover arrived he just rolled his eyes and said "And this is why you don't have siblings together."

[tonyboy96page]

Tartarus Effect 1

Tartarus Effect 1

Percy woke up screaming. It had been two months since the battle with Gaia ended and for some reason he was plagued with horrific nightmares. He kept having similar dreams every night. The endless tortures he suffered with Annabeth were merciless and ungodly. Percy looked at his clock, it read 4:45 am. Percy walked to the bathroom hunched over the sink and splashed some water on his face. He leaned up and looked into the mirror, and pale mess stared back. The only benefit of being sent to Tartarus was that he and Annabeth had some time to talk and get over some things in their lives, like for instance the fact that Percy had realized when he met Jason that he had had feelings for him, and in all honesty she was really good and accepting about it, hugging him when he had sad it and saying that she was so happy for him finding someone that made him feel like he could 110% be himself.

Percy made the grueling and agonizing journey back to his bed. The ghosts of those moments enveloping his mind in a haze of drowsy memories. Those moments seemed to flash by as he trudged back to bed. Meeting Jason, talking and bonding with him, Jason confessing that he had fallen in love with him and Percy saying the same, Annabeth falling towards Tartarus and Jason being forced to let Percy go, the last thing Percy saw before being consumed by the pit, was the face of the one he loved. Then having the talk with Annabeth.

**** Flashback****

The two followed the Cocytus down to find the doors, they walked in silence for a time, "H-hey Annabeth?" Percy asked "yeah?" Annabeth asked, "I need to tell you about something" Percy said and looked and saw Annabeth listening, "So first of all I'm just going to come out and say it, I-I'm gay." He let that sit for a second, "Pecry what do you mean?" Annabeth asked startled, " I mean that recently me and Jason have been connecting and I don't know I mean there is something about him that feels like it's fated to happen, and there is a connection that is far more old and 'destiny-ish' about it that makes me feel like like I can be me and while yes I know I can be me around you, just not the full 100% me, and you neede-" "Percy stop talking and look at me" Annabeth interrupted, Percy turned around and she had stopped a couple feet back, "I knew something had changed between you two," Percy walked back to her, "y-your not mad?" "Of course not," she said hugging him, "You are still my best friend in the whole world,"

**** End ****

Percy climbed in bed and sat knees up to his chin for the rest of the night, dawn arose slowly, the sun creeping up into the sky slowly. Suddenly there was a knock on the door and Percy slowly unfolded his body, his muscles and joints creaking as if he had been that way for centuries. He walked to the door and opened it. The smile on Jason's face vanished when he got a good look at his boyfriend. "Percy what happened too you?"

Jason took in his boyfriend's appearance: Navy blue basketball shorts, a wrinkled gray "Apollofest 2015" t-shirt, beautifully golden tanned body that always made Jason's heart skip, hair that looked like it had survived three hurricanes (his version of bed head) and most notably, his eyes, bloodshot eyes surrounded by dark circles and bags under his eyes. "I didn't sleep well at all" Percy said his voice creaked and rattled the way a voice shouldn't be sounding, he cleared his throat and it returned to normal. "Your nightmares again?" Jason asked. Percy's eyes started to well up with tears, "y-yes" Percy choked out before rushing to Jason who took him in his arms.

They walked to the bed and they sat down Percy leaning against Jason who comforted him. "This time y-you were with us down th-there and I had to w-watch you die" Percy said struggling to speak through his tears. "Shhhh, shhhh baby I'm right here" Jason said holding Percy's face so he was forced to look Jason in the eyes. "I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere ok?" "Ok" Percy choked out before Jason slowly pulled Percy into a light romantic kiss. Jason always loved how Percy's lips always had a faint sea salt taste to them, he also knew that when they kissed, like the water that Percy's father commanded, Percy as the conductor of Jason's electricity and it shot through him, just as it always did when they touched making him feel alive, and eternally in love with the son of Jupiter. "Ok Percy," Jason whispered in the Sea Prince's ear, "Now go shower and we'll go to breakfast."

After Percy showered and they got to breakfast Jason went and found Annabeth "hey can you come find me and Percy when your free at all today?" "Sure why what's wrong?" Annabeth asked quizzically, "It's the nightmares again" Jason said, "Oh my gods still?" She asked, "Yeah but anyway, come find us later I don't want to leave him for too long," Jason said, "Ok will do and Jason you are really so perfect for him thank you for being so good for him" she said with a smile.

Jason walked back to Percy who was doing his offering after getting his food, Jason got his and along with his usual offering to his father and more recently to Aphrodite, he also gave one for both Morpheus and Hypnos praying for them to give Percy at least one peaceful nights sleep. When they sat down Percy ate slowly and quietly mainly just poking his food with his fork. "Perce you need to eat," Jason said, "I don't know I'm not feeling all that hungry," Percy said sadly, Jason smirked a bit, "How about this, if you don't eat everything on that plate you get no more kisses or hugs today."

At that Percy started to eat slowly but he was doing it, "there you go," Jason said "I thought that might change your mind". Percy managed a smile. When they were done they went for a walk around camp, the day went by and they spent time together eventually they ended up sitting in the shade of a large tree over looking Long Island Sound. Annabeth joined them after about a half an hour. "Jason said your still having you right area?" Annabeth asked sitting down in front of the two boys. "Yeah," Percy said "Do you still have yours?" Percy asked shyly, "Not at all as often as I did but they still come and go," she said truthfully "How did you get rid of them?" Percy asked.

"I decided I wouldn't let them control my life and I found solace through my friends and my cabin," she said, "Percy you need to let your friends help you through this ok?" "O-ok," Percy said through tears, "Oh crap ok I need to run I can see Drew picking on Jordan again, just remember Percy let us help you, we all love you especially Jason" she said getting up. Jason got up, "I'll be right back baby" he said, he caught up with Annabeth, "Hey, I know he needs to let us in but please s there anything I can do help him out?" He asked, "Honestly keep loving him and show him how much you love him, be there for him and keep him interacting with other people your doing an amazing job already" Jason walked back to Percy smiling, ready to give him all the love and attention in the world.